Community leaders continue to toe the neutrality line

She's just not quite sure what to do when she drives by the nurses picketing outside Northern Michigan Hospital.

"It's very uncomfortable for me to drive by the picket line on a personal level," said Lott, the executive director of the Harbor Springs Chamber of Commerce.

For many community and business leaders, the strike has been an exercise in neutrality, of putting personal feelings aside for professional purposes.

Lott said part of the discomfort is the fact that this small region has been so divided.

"We're a quiet community, and in the past we've been able to work out our differences," said Lott. "This brings a whole new element into our ability to resolve differences as a community."

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Try asking a community leader if they've taken a side in the dispute and it's an exercise in futility.

But who can blame them? Business deals can be made or broken or customers offended for supporting one side over another.

Some leaders, however, such as Jane Millar, are agreeable to talk about the overall impact the labor dispute has had on Petoskey and surrounding communities.

Millar is executive director of Northern Michigan Community Mediation Services, which offered to help mediate an end to the impasse early on, to no avail. The outreach was made prior to Millar taking over the head position in September, but she's been a long-time community member and mediation board member since July.

"I think the unfortunate thing is that it's like any sort of disagreement - the longer it goes on, the harder it is to resolve," Millar said. "It's human nature to dig your heels in.

"And both sides truly believe that they are right. Therein lies a lot of the problem."

At this point in the dispute, Millar questions whether local involvement would be the best course for assistance.

"If both parties were interested in coming to the table for mediation, of course we would be there to facilitate," Millar said. "If they did do mediation, it would probably be better handled by mediators outside the community, though. It would be very difficult to find someone who doesn't have some sort of opinion and mediators are to be totally unbiased so the parties can state their cases."

Echoing what many have said, Millar said she remains hopeful that the end is near.

"And not just because you've got two organizations involved - for all the people themselves who are directly affected," she said. "It's got to be a terrible strain on them. The impact is personal and professional, and their home life has got to be affected. That's a lot of strain to live under for a year."

It's a strain that's been felt community wide, too, according to Bob Crumb, former NMH vice president of business development and owner of Petoskey's Carpet Connection.

A year ago, Crumb called the strike shameful, and said both sides deserve blame for letting the situation escalate.

Now, "I still think that it should've been avoided," Crumb said. "It's polarized families and community members and there were some more low blows on both sides that really have hurt the community."

His biggest concern is one shared by many.

"The dilemma I see now is, how can this be repaired?" Crumb asked. "I don't know how you integrate the bad will and the bad feelings on both sides back into an organization. The dilemma is huge, trying to put those factions back together."

Cameron Brunet-Koch, president of North Central Michigan College, is also aware of the strike's many community impacts. After it first began, the college decided to take nursing students out of clinical rotations at NMH until things are settled, and that continues.

"The college has been impacted by the controversy like any other large organization in our community," Brunet-Koch said. "Because we have a large number of employees and students, there are varying opinions regarding the strike and varying perspectives on the strike."

She continued, "We did choose to discontinue our clinical rotation at NMH last November because of issues affecting the stability of the learning environment, and that topic continues to be a subject of discussion and evaluation."

Economic impacts

While the strike hasn't taken a direct toll on Crumb or his business, he said the implications are wider.

"Indirectly, it's hurt everybody in the community," he said. "It's hurt the economy in Petoskey and to that extent, I think it's hurt everyone."

Carlin Smith, executive director of the Petoskey Regional Chamber of Commerce, also commented on the economic repercussions the strike has had on the area. It was one of three main impacts he and the board of directors recently discussed.

"We think there's probably been some economic effects of the strike, but nothing we can quantify," Smith said.

He pointed to striking nurses leaving the area for other jobs and the impact of their reduced or lost salary for a year as among the most significant on the region's economy.